Acidosis
Acidosis in cats and how it relates to Feline Kidney Disease
Metabolic acidosis in cats is caused by the feline diet. If the diet is
acidic [too low in ph],
over time, it will do damage to the cat's kidneys and will have a negative impact on the overall health
and well being of the cat.
Once the kidneys become damaged, they can no longer properly remove toxic waste from the blood.
Urea and nitrogen are main examples of this waste, caused by the consumption of acidic processed pet food.
The blood becomes overloaded with waste and now the cat has become uremic. The symptoms of uremia in cats are similar to those of kidney disease.
Click on "signs and symptoms of kidney disease "
Purchasing live wheatgrass that is sold at PetSmart, PetCo and "Whole Foods Grocery" is a fantastic thing to introduce your kitty
to especially if they are indoor only cats who don't get any amazing chlorophyll from the grass they eat. Never let your cat eat fertilized grass!
It can cause cancer and is just plain loaded with chemicals. Your cat's kidneys and liver do not need any more strain.
Besides, regular grass does not have anywhere near the healing or nutritional attributes as wheatgrass. Wheatgrass
is known to help treat acidosis. I believe that the main treatment that your vet will provide for this condition,
is the administering of subcutaneous or "sub-q" fluids. This as well as a low phosphorous, lower protein diet will make all the difference
in the world. Protein is hard on kidneys because it creates acidic waste in the blood which needs to be filtered out by the kidneys.
However, it's not just a question of high protein, it's really the type of protein.
You see, protein derrived from meat, especially cooked or processed meat such as pet food, is extremely acidic not to mention, all of the live
enzymes that were present in the meat before cooking or processing that greatly helped to break down, digest, absorb and assimilation the protein from the meat,
were all destroyed. Animal protein is only about 24-27% and because it's so acidic and not easily used by the body, you're actually only able to use 8 or 9% of the protein
out of the 24-27% !
Spirulina on the other hand, is not only the highest known source of protein on the entire planet{60-67%} it is NOT acidic at all and therefore is almost 100% absorbable and usable by the body and it has the 9
essential amino acids that the body cannot produce on its own.
What is it? It's a blue-green algae and vegetable plankton that grows in fresh water lakes throughout the world. Guess what else? The pycocyanin in spirulina has been shown to actually support and
protect against kidney failure. So maybe consider incorporating spirulina that comes in powdered form, somehow into your cat's restricted protein diet. It's important to make sure it's organic or pesticide free!
You can get spirulina from your local health food stores or order it on line.
Depending on the health of your cat's kidneys, sub-q fluids can become a vital or an occassional part of your cat's routine.
They hate getting it done but they feel great afterwards. It really reduces the nausea and poor appetite associated with acidosis too.
Things like trace minerals are good for preventing acidosis but, you have to be really careful
about what you give to a cat with kidney troubles and I do not know enough about their impact on a c.r.f cat, to give
any advice except that I would say it's definitely worth asking the vet who is treating your cat, if it will be harmful or helpful.
Stay away from cat foods that advertise the ability to lower the urinary ph. By lowering the urinary ph, you are also
raising the acidity of the urine or making it more acidic. This may be effective in helping to prevent urinary tract infections,
but a UTI is a lot easier to deal with than irreversable kidney damage. It can also create kidney stones.
Not to mention, it will cause the the kitty to urinate more often losing precious potassium which a deficiency of, has been directly related to cats and
kidney disease. The acidic urine caused by this ph lowering food, can also create kidney stones.
As a matter of fact, I read an article about clinical studies done on women who suffered from
constant, supposed UTI's. These studies revealed that the pain and burning sensation they experienced during urination, was frequently
misdiagnosed or sometimes not even tested but assumed to be caused by a bacterial infection and thus were prescribed antibiotics.
When in fact, there was no infection or overgrowth of bacteria. The burning sensation was the result of metabolic acidosis which was
causing the overly acidic urine to burn the tissues of the urinary tract.